I’m going to be just a tad presumptuous, and consider what may have gone on in the Mind of God just before creating Adam and Eve…before placing them in the Garden for their great test…
God hesitated. He knew once He rolled this ball down the aisle, there would be no stopping it. No turning back. He knew He must let the Serpent into the beautiful, pristine Garden. He knew Eve would fail. He knew Adam would be seduced too. In His omniscience, He saw all of human history laid bare before Him. “Should I do it?”
He saw Adam and Eve’s grievous regret at what they had done. He saw Cain kill his brother Abel. He knew it would go so terribly wrong, He would have to send a great flood to destroy it all and start over…with Noah and his small family.
He saw the enslavement of His chosen people. He saw how often they would sin against Him. He saw every war against them and every war until the end of time…the sticks and stones, the arrows, the swords, the muskets, cannons, bombs from planes, bombs of mass destruction, machine guns, tanks, drones, bioweapons, propaganda and endless spiritual attacks upon the mind, the heart, the ears and the eyes.
He saw every abortion, from chemically induced to the horror of partial birth. He saw every unspeakable atrocity. Every death camp. Every martyr. Every injustice. Every child kidnapped and abused. Every sobbing mother. Every occult sacrifice. Every deception. Every unnatural offense against His perfect creation. All the tremendous suffering. Every moment of despair. Every suicide. Every laboring mother…the aged and all manner of infirmity. Every senseless accident. Every fatherless child. Every tempest, earthquake and tsunami.
And finally, He saw His only-begotten beloved Son upon the Cross. And His wailing daughter at its foot.
God saw all of this. And He said, “I will do it.” Because He knew that in the end, it would all be worth it. The good would go on to their eternal bliss with Him. And it would not be a joke of a universe. It would mean something. It would be worth it all.
And He would send His Son to tell us this. In these immortal words of the Sermon on the Mount…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.”
Matthew 5:3